Flashes hold off Purple Eagles

Kent State was able to hold off Niagara Thursday night for a 76-73 win at the MAC Center. The Golden Flashes had a 20 point lead in the first half before watching it dwindle away in the second half.

Morgan Safford, nursing a lower body ailment, was able to gut out 27 minutes and lead the team with 17 points, including big free throws down the stretch.

Kent State was able to close out a game that shoudn’t have been that close, but to their credit, where some teams would fold to the momentum, the Flashes secured a home win.

“A lot of us have played a lot of basketball,” Safford said after. “This is my sixth year in college and Von’s fifth year.  And I think that experience has helped us win this game.  We’ve been here, we were just here two weeks ago against Louisiana.  I think our experience, our toughness helped us close out close games.”

Von Cameron Davis had 15, while Jalen Sullinger and Anthony Morales both chipped in with 10 points.

Sharing the ball, hot shooting, defending without fouling and containing the dribble allowed the Flashes to get that big lead in the first half.

Those same things lacking, allowed the Purple Eagles, who lost Tuesday at Bowling Green, to get back in the game.

“The fouling, and just maintaining our focus when we got a big lead, we got to make sure we do a better job of that,” Rob Senderoff said after the game.

The Flashes head down the road to the Wolstein Center in Cleveland Saturday for a regional rivalry matchup with the Cleveland State Vikings.  

GETTING A LIFT: Kent State got a lift from three bench guys Thursday. Marquis Barnett who came off the bench for the first time, Anthony Morales and Rico Gillespie all provided a spark for the Flashes.

Barnett flashed some of the aggressiveness that everyone expected from him when he transferred from Presbytertian College after averaging 16 a game and known as a good defender. Barnett provided six boards including four offensive, to go along with six points, two steals and two assists in 18 impactful minutes.

Anthony Morales heated up for 10 points in 13 minutes, including a couple of triple hits. At 6-8, Morales can be a key for the group moving forward.

Rico Gillespie was key as well, with Cli’Ron Hornbeak in foul trouble. Gillespie had some really good “wall ups” in the paint, using his size and length to contest shots without fouling, and was impactful offensively with some traffic finishes.

“I thought Marquis was much more aggressive on both ends of the floor,” Senderoff said.  “He did a much better job, just being aggressive with the way he’s capable of playing.”

“I thought Rico came off the bench because Cli’Ron was in foul trouble and gave us really good minutes.”

“Anthony saw the ball go in the basket which again he’s a great, great shooter so for him to start making some threes I think is helpful for him and for us.”   

MIKE B ALWAYS READY: Mike Bekelja has had a lot of roles so far in his KSU career. From bench rotation player, to out of the rotation, to starter, and playing 37 minutes in a conference tournament game. Last night Bekelja was back in the starting lineup. King of the intangibles, Bekelja competes.

Battling through what appears to be some shoulder ailment, he contributed five boards and 19 minutes last night. Very good at digging the ball out and coming up with loose balls, Bekelja is a Senderoff favorite and for good reason. He impacts winning in a lot of ways.

“I think Mike often gets overlooked because Mike’s stat line isn’t always the best in terms of his scoring but our plus minus with him on the court as a team is the best of everybody’s on the roster and tonight,” Senderoff said.

PHYSICAL WITHOUT FOULING: The challenge for many KSU teams in the past is to maintain their level of physicality, but to defend without fouling. Showing your hands, chesting up drives and walling up on shots all play a role in that. More times than not, officials will let you defend if you are consistent and consistently physical. The Flashes have gotten a lot of success over the years from this philosophy. Last night in the second half especially, fouls mounted as the Purple Eagles made their comeback.

“Yeah, we’re going to have to keep getting better at that because these films get out,” Senderoff said. “People are going to see ok, if we drive the ball, Kent’s going to put us to the free throw line.  So, we got to do a better job showing our hands.  We had a couple illegal screens, so we got to do a better job on that side of the floor because that was some of our turnovers, I think four of them were on illegal screens, so we got to get better there.”  

SUMLIN DNP: Kent State point guard Jamal Sumlin was not dressed and was at the end of the bench in sweats cheering on the team. No reason was given for his not dressing. He didn’t appear to have an injury. Sumlin, a Cleveland Rhodes grad is described as a “junk yard dog” type point guard with the defensive edge he plays with.

VIKES PREVIEW: Kent State plays at Cleveland State Saturday night in what is always a spirited game. The Vikings are 3-3 already with a schedule that has a little bit of everything so far. A 9-point loss at Minnesota this week, an 8-point win over Eastern Michigan, and losses to Kansas State, Michigan, but also a win over Division III Baldwin Wallace.

The Flashes feature Sumlin, Bekelja, Barnett and DeAndre Jones all from Northeast Ohio.


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